William "Bill" Thomas Tyler was a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 rugby football

Rugby football

Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

er who was part of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain.

Rugby Football

He started his career playing rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 for the City Club in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

. Tyler was a Scrum-Half but also played at Wing-Forward, a position that had already been abandoned in other countries. Aged 25, he was selected for Auckland

Auckland representative rugby union team

The Auckland representative rugby union team is the top representative rugby union team under the Auckland Rugby Football Union in New Zealand. It competes in the ITM Cup, renamed from the Air New Zealand Cup in 2010....

 in 1905 and was part of the team that won the Ranfurly Shield

Ranfurly Shield

The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Ranfurly Shield is based on a challenge system, rather than a league or knockout competition as with most football trophies...

 from Wellington. Tyler had scored the winning try and was well known for this deed.

Rugby League

In 1907 Tyler joined the professional All Blacks in their tour of Great Britain and Australia. Like the rest of the touring party Tyler was banned for life by the New Zealand Rugby Union. While on tour he played in six test matches and scored the match winning try in the third test against Great Britain

Great Britain national rugby league team

The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....

. In all tour games Tyler scored three tries.

On the tours return to New Zealand he was one of the founding member of the Ponsonby United Rugby League Club

Ponsonby Ponies

The Ponsonby Ponies are a rugby league club based in Ponsonby, New Zealand. The club was founded in 1908 and competes in the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition.-History:...

 in 1908 alongside fellow tourist Charles Dunning

Charles Dunning (rugby league)

Charles Dunning was a New Zealand rugby footballer who was part of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain.-Rugby football:...

. He also played for Auckland

Auckland rugby league team

The Auckland rugby league team is the team which traditionally represents all of the clubs which play in the Auckland Rugby League competition. The Auckland Rugby League team has traditionally been a powerhouse of New Zealand domestic rugby league...

 and was part of the first ever provincial rugby league match in New Zealand, in which Auckland defeated Wellington

Wellington Rugby League

Wellington Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of Rugby league in the Greater Wellington region. It is responsible for the local competition of the same name, as well as its representative team, the Wellington rugby league team.- Local Senior Competition :The...

16-14.